Dr. Rajendra Mehta is Head (Emeritus), Cancer Biology Division at IIT Research Institute and Professor (Emeritus) at IIT, Chicago, IL. He received PhD in Life Sciences from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE in 1974. He completed Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University o1 Rochester Cancer Center, Rochester NY and was Professor of Surgical Oncology and Pharmacology at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, IL. He moved to III Research Institute in 2004 as Head of Cancer Biology Division and Professor of Biology at III and recently retired from his position.

Dr. Rajendra G. Mehta is an internationally known researcher in the area of cancel chemoprevention, drug discovery and molecular mechanism of drug action. Over the years, his group has discovered several cancer preventive and therapeutic agents. These include Resveratrol (from red wine), 1 alpha hydroxy-Vitamin D5 (vitamin D analogue), Deguelin (from an African plant) and Fenretinide (retinoid, vitamin A analogue). Some of these drugs are currently in clinical trials. These have resulted in several patents and press releases. In addition, he developed a mouse mammary gland organ culture model (MMOC) to screen newly identified (or synthesized) chemicals from plants for their cancer preventive properties. The National Cancer Institute has used this procedure for screening compounds for the past 40 years. The overall concept of drug discovery is to focus on the efficacy determinations in vitro and in vivo as well as determining the molecular mechanisms of drug action. Once efficacy and toxicological profiles are determined, they are evaluated by the FDA for theii approval of clinical trials. He was actively involved in this process and clinical trials. Currently he serves as an adviser to several Biotech companies. The research focus has largely been on breast and colon cancers.